Today we’d like to introduce you to Neil Roberts.
Neil, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I was born in Honolulu Hawaii and adopted. I’ve never met my biological mother and father. My adoptive parents moved me and my older brother to Logan Utah, just few hours north of Salt Lake City, after my first birthday. I grew up enjoying the outdoors. Mostly fly fishing with my dad, along with skateboarding and snowboarding. I became interested in art and tattoos at around six or seven years old. I had seen a biker dude in line at the grocery store and he had full sleeves of skulls and a fire and a dragon. I thought to myself “wow! I want that on me!” I then also started to want to do it on other people. So I began drawing and painting, I wasn’t very good at it. Even in high school studying art in class I just didn’t have much guidance from my teachers. The only art class I’d say I excelled at in school was photography. My teacher Roger Rigby truly loved teaching and the art of photography, so he helped me and so many students appreciate taking photos. I was also his student in the final days of using an actual darkroom to develop photos. I did my first tattoo on my ankle at 13 years old, I still have it. I did it as a stick and poke tattoo, and not with a machine. The first machine I got was at 17 years old just before my 18th birthday. A friend of mine who I had done some terrible stick and poke tattoos on him bought this crappy “ tattoo kit” online with his moms credit card.
Once I turned 18, I moved out of my parents pretty quickly and couch surfed for a while and try get an apprenticeship in Salt Lake City. That led nowhere though, I got told to piss off, and a lot of worse things that I won’t share here. So I decided to just tattoo whoever of my friends would let me tattoo them for free or for beer or weed or cigarettes. This was in 2006, and I spent a year just doing that. I then went back down to the shops in SLC I had been to a year prior to see if I could get a job. I mostly got told again to piss off amongst other expletives. Finally one shop said yes and hired me, I spent six months there tattooing as much as I could in a four station shop that had 6 of us tattooing and rotating through the stations. I finally got let go because before I got hired the owner had two apprentices who were paying money for their apprenticeship, and they were about to be signed off and allowed to tattoo full time. I then moved to Twin Falls Idaho and worked in a biker street shop for a few months, but I just never felt fully welcome by the owner. So I left there and just went on the road mostly tattooing wherever would let me work for them. I wound up in Las Vegas and after going between Vegas and North Dakota tattooing for a few years I then had an opportunity to move here to Houston Texas and set down some roots and I’ve been here since 2013. I’ve worked at few shops here but in January of this year I was presented an opportunity to work at a newer shop in my neighborhood called Battle Royale Tattoo which was opened last year by Gabriel Massey. I feel like I’ve really been allowed to fully shine here and appreciate working with this crew that also consists of Steven Kissinger and Rick Murillo.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It’s been a very rough but rewarding road. I have had to fight and scrape and claw my way into this craft because I truly love it. I was pushed away though by so many “rockstars” in the business. This is an over-saturated business with many people who don’t love it or cherish it like a lot of decent hard-working artists. People given a free ride into a historical craft with a lot of tightly held secrets that shouldn’t be handed out to just anyone. If you don’t truly love this business and appreciate every aspect of it then you shouldn’t be in it.
Some other obstacles I dealt with were getting robbed at gunpoint on a few occasions. I had my car broken into at one point on the road at a hotel and luckily I had my machines in the room with me but the thief made off with all my tattoo pigment and power supply and needles. A lot of people don’t realize this business can be still a rough one and you have to deal with some crappy people who will take advantage of you any chance they get. I worked for a tattoo shop owner who was not a Tattoo Artist or even a Piercer, and he up and closed the shop overnight without telling any of the artists and he changed the locks on the doors at the shop so no one could get their equipment out. I still smashed the window and went in and got my stuff though. There’s no room for that kind of BS in this business.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I work at Battle Royale Tattoo in East End. I’ve been tattooing for 13 years at this point. I specialize in Japanese and American traditional style tattoos. But I also love doing dot work and some black and grey style as well. I’d say what sets me apart is my consistency in style and technique. I use bold lines and heavy shading with bright colors that stand the test of time. I’m most proud that I’ve been able to provide for my wife and daughter doing what I love.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Maintaining quality but pushing myself to break out of the norm a little and make myself a little uncomfortable when designing a tattoo. You won’t learn anything if you don’t get uncomfortable.
Pricing:
- Hourly rate and day sessions available. $180 per hour or 6 hours for $600
Contact Info:
- Phone: Shop phone: 346-406-3162
- Email: battleroyaletattoohtx@gmail.com
- Instagram: Shop Instagram: @battleroyaletattoohtx
Personal Instagram: @neilrobtattoos
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